Apple exonerated in Cover Flow patent case

A federal judge ruled on Monday that Apple, Inc. did not infringe upon the patents of company Mirror Worlds in the creation of its Cover Flow interface. Mirror Worlds filed its initial lawsuit in 2008, claiming that Apple copied technologies protected by its “document stream operating system” filing from 2004. Back in 2010, a U.S. District Court ruled in the plaintiffs favor and awarded Mirror Worlds $625.5 million in damages. Apple appealed, and the ruling was overturned by a federal judge citing a “lack of foundational support” for the charges. “In this case, Mirror Worlds may have painted an appealing picture for the jury, but it failed to lay a solid foundation sufficient to support important elements it was required to establish under the law,” reads the ruling. “Accordingly, the Court rejects Mirror Worlds’ case as to infringement and damages, while affirming it as to validity and inequitable conduct.”

If you had an Android phone, you would not have a problem with the mobile site or app.

RealDeal

Patenting stuff like this is stupid and should not be allowed.

Anonymous

When can we exonerate users from coverflow. The only thing it’s good for is saying, hey look at this cool coverflow. I used it once, back with my 1st generation ipod. They should be fined for adding that craptastic feature in the first place.

http://twitter.com/mikegcox mikegcox

I was going to ask if anybody actually used it. It is the first thing I turn on when using an Apple.

Good for Apple. These opportunists think they can have easy money by suing Apple. This is exactly the reason why Apple wants to patent every tech and feature that they come up with. They are a top target for money hungry opportunists, ready to sue for anything.